


Goodnight

by Lastavica



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Barn cat, Cats, Clint Barton's Farm, Clint and Laura Barton's Family, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Gen, Headcanon, Healing, Light Angst, Light-Hearted, Loki's Scepter (Marvel), Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Napping, One Shot, Pets, Post-Avengers (2012), The Author Regrets Nothing, Why Did I Write This?, residual effects of space magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:47:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28533909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lastavica/pseuds/Lastavica
Summary: Ever since Loki, Clint experiences numbness at the center of his sternum. One afternoon in the barn he gets a little respite from an unexpected place.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Laura Barton
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Goodnight

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place an unspecified amount of time after the first Avengers movie. Clint is still trying to deal with what happened.

Clint opened his eyes to see rays of sunlight coming through openings in the old barn. Floating dust, illuminated as it moved from the shadows into the sunbeams. Across his vision a barn swallow darted on its way to a tiny mud nest. In the quiet, doves rustled their feathers up in the rafters and somewhere on the dusty floor a mouse scurried across something metal.

He breathed in the mixed scent of musty old straw and fresh hay. It was a smell that had always made him feel safe. Now, as a man, it meant home. As a boy, it was an assurance that his drunken father woudn't find him.

The hay stack he was laying on shifted slightly under his weight as he stirred. He didn't know how long ago he'd fallen asleep there. He couldn't remember why he'd been in the barn anyway. Something needed doing or fixing. It always did.

Finally, he noticed an unfamilar sensation on his chest. Used to the numbness at its center, he was surprised to feel warmth. Lifting his head to look, he had to stifle a laugh. The barn's resident cat had found him sleeping and taken full advange of his rythmic breathing, body heat and soft flanel. It woke up when he reached to scratch behind its ears and instantly began it's typical loud purring.

"Thanks, girl." He rasped sleepily. "This feels pretty good."

Goodnight, given the name by Laura, was a large fluffy black cat with yellow eyes. She wasn't shy of people and was generally useless in the catching mice department. She'd come to them as a kitten from farm up the road. One of the feral barn cats there had given birth to a litter and the family offered the kittens to any neighbors who'd like one. Clint came home with the little black fluff ball one sunny day and the kids were beside themselves with happiness. She lived in the barn but was fed and looked after like a regular pet. She spent the majority of her young life being carried around and loved on by Lila. Accustomed to so much human affection she took all the snuggles she could get. In the mornings Clint often found Laura on the porch drinking coffee and stroking Goodnight in her lap. The cat purred like an motor as soon as anyone touched her. She was great. When Natasha first met her as a kitten she hadn't been impressed. Unsurprisingly the little black cat's friendliness and affection won her over pretty quickly. After that, whenever Nat arrived at the farm Goodnight seemed to appear from out of nowhere purring and rubbing her face against her boots. The kids usually opened the front door to find her standing with the cat in her arms. Clint always reminded her that a lot of farm cats are jerks and he'd picked a winner. She and Laura would roll their eyes at each other as often as he'd say it.

Clint, still comfortably situated on the hay, was smiling as he scratched her ears and neck. Goodnight kept pushing against his hand, eager to get the most out of it.

"You're a spoiled cat." Clint chuckled. The purring continued until someone pushed the barn door open causing a rake clatter loudly against a metal bucket. The sound spooked Goodnight and she leapt off Clint and vanished. Laura appeared beside him, her face level with his.

"Hi." She said, folding her arms and resting them on the haystack.

"Hey, babe." He smiled and reached up and gently pushed hair behind her ear.

"You feeling ok?" she asked, tilting her head to so she could meet his eyes better.

"I really am." he said and sat up.

Laura's eyes crinkled into the most genuine smile. Hearing that from him was a big deal these days.

He hopped down off the hay and pulled her into a gentle hug.

"My sternum's not cold." he mumbled into her hair.

She pushed him out in front of her. It was weird thing for anybody to say, but Laura was familiar with the icey spot on his chest. She was intimately aware of every effect the Loki "incident" had on her husband. Reaching up under his shirt, she felt the usual spot.

"It is." She was legitimately surprised and he felt really happy hearing her confirm it. As her fingers instinctively kneaded into it, he could already feel the area starting to chill again. So could Laura.

"It was Goodnight." Clint said when her hand moved instead into his and clasped it.

Laura looked at him inquisitively.

"I fell asleep. She curled up on my chest."

Laura laughed. "The cat did it?"

He started to laugh too.

"Space magic's got nothing on a big fluffy cat I guess."

"You picked a winner." Laura said.

Clint grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> I was preparing to post this thinking "Where did this come from!?" and just realized I saw a huge fluffy cat on Wednesday night and it was super affectionate and let me pet him. I'm 100% sure that's what inspired this one shot. LOL!
> 
> Anyhoo, I've always maintained that the center of Clint's chest where Loki placed the scepter would be permanently numb with no warmth. Only very recently though did I manage to write something about it in one of my "Total" one shots. It gets mentioned briefly in my post A1 oneshot, "Cold" too. And now this.
> 
> Happy New Year, friends. :D


End file.
